


Always Together

by adoomedthief (KiiroHeart)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Multi, will add characters/relationships when appeared
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 19:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3948415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiiroHeart/pseuds/adoomedthief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An apartment can get pretty crowded with a handful of college kids who have known each other for way too long.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Unexpected Offer

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is mainly an introduction to the story, while most of the chapters will revolve around a certain issue or character! I hope you enjoy and you'll come back for more!

"You did _what_?"

Karkat looked up at his blind, and apparently psychotic, friend. She was standing over him with her hands on her hips, grinning down while her read. Throughout the most of the conversation, Karkat would nod and pretend to listen to Terezi as she ranted about her week as he continued looking down at his romance novel, until she announced her biggest news.

"Well, it wouldn't just be me, Karkat! I thought we could all move in together, you know. Have fun?" This didn't sound like Terezi at all, at least to Karkat. After a huge fight that Terezi had with her then best friend, Vriska Serket, no one in the group of high school friends talked during the few months before college. Karkat looks back down at his book, frowning at the thought that in reality, he didn't even bother to talk to anyone either.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be near Vriska anymore, let alone fucking living with her," Karkat snapped his book shut after a moment of thinking. "You know that something is going to happen again and someone is going to get hurt. That's all that happens with Vriska around."

Terezi crossed her arms, a different look on her face as he watched her head turn to the side. "It's just different now. We've talked it all out, and Vriska wants to apologize."

"So she wants to apologize by all of us living in the same apartment? Is she even crazier than I thought?" Karkat didn't even bother with shouting at this point, it was too ridiculous. A lot of their friends had already moved somewhere far away for college, some without a goodbye. Just disappeared. He would think about friends (if that was a proper word for it) like John and Jade who ventured off to go to the same college as some relatives and relatives of friends. No one would stay here when there's so much for the world to offer.

"You know it wouldn't be all of us. Vriska said that anyone who needs some place to stay, then the apartment would work out." The short girl sat on the armchair next to Karkat's seat, huffing. "Besides, the apartment would be in a fantastic place."

This got his attention. Karkat sat up a bit in his seat, straightening himself out. "I'm listening."

"Imagine, an apartment near the college. It's such a big area near that college, nowhere near like this small town with only two high schools," she grinned even wider, leaning close to the boy. "You haven't seen any of our closest friends in months. I'm sure Kanaya misses you, and I heard that Dave is practically depressed without seeing anyone."

"Strider would not be depressed, or at least admit what he feels."

"You don't know what I know. Wouldn't you like to find out, Karkat?"

He really did want to find out, when he thought about it. Karkat didn’t know anything about his friends that decided to stay, so why not find out? It’s not like he had anything to lose. Well, maybe an arm.

“Fuck it, I’m in.”

\--

When he was in, he was all in and in an instant. As soon as Karkat said he’d move in with the two girls, Terezi started to throw his belongings in bags for the big move. Then at some point Dave was called along with Rose and Kanaya, and somehow everyone arrived at the door of Vriska’s apartment. Karkat planned on being late enough so he didn’t have to be alone with Serket, but he also didn’t want to be the last one there. He noticed that the door was opened, but when he knocked no one answered. Karkat pushed the door open with his foot, his luggage following behind.

The apartment wasn’t the worst thing in the world. As soon as he walked in through the door, the room was made up of mostly the living room with a small part of it becoming the kitchen. As he set his bags beside the door, Karkat noticed a hallway that fell between the kitchen and the wall. Before he could get a closer look, he notices his taller and new roommate walking into the room.

“Oh Karkat, it’s just you. All of the girls are here; we were getting rooms all set up. You wouldn’t mind sharing a room, right? You’ll probably end up sharing with Dave, unless you’re picky about it.” Vriska started to shoot new information right after another at Karkat, he started to lose track of everything she was telling him. Before he process a sentence to her, he looked over at Kanaya appearing from the same hallway.

“Hello Karkat. You look… Stressed out.” She frowns at the shorter boy, looking him over. “I hope you have been feeling well. I haven’t seen you much over the summer, but I’ll be seeing you everyday now.”

Karkat leaned against the back of the couch as he watched Terezi and Rose come into the room and stand beside the other two girls. The four of them started to look over the walls and some of the empty spaces, with Vriska leading the other girls’ thoughts. It was a lot for Karkat to process all in the first few minutes of him being here. Back in high school, he was the go-to guy for anything. But now, Vriska was taking control of it all.

A loud thud broke Karkat’s concentration and he looked over at the source of the noise. Dave Strider was leaning against the doorframe with a box in his hands. None of the girls in the room noticed his entrance, or even the noise. Dave set the box next to a few others in the room.

“Sup, Karkat. I didn’t know you were already here.” Dave stood closer, and even the cool kid was taller than Karkat.

 _Great, so I really was the last one here_ , Karkat thought. “What was that noise anyway?”

“I don’t know, maybe someone tripped,” he shrugged, but it was obvious that he was hiding the fact that he fell. Karkat’s bags were moved from their spot, and it didn’t surprise him that Dave had probably tripped over them on his way inside.

Once Vriska noticed that Dave had entered the apartment, she clapped her hands together and the room suddenly became quiet. Even with his shades on, Karkat could see Dave glance over at him. He was probably thinking the same thing. Was Vriska really getting to be in charge of all of this? Karkat wasn’t exactly sure how much Strider knew, since he was never really around for any of the bad things that happened with Vriska. The only real interaction he had with the blonde was when he would argue with John and the boy was by his side, listening to his headphones and rapping to himself. The only thing he knows about him is whenever Terezi would gush about the cool kid through phone calls. It was practically an indirect love triangle, where no one really knows what each other felt except their own feelings.

Vriska was snapping her fingers in front of Karkat’s face when he finally stopped thinking about the other male, and she looked extremely annoyed. “Karkat, were you even paying attention to what I said? God, will this keep happening for the rest of the time we live together? Stop daydreaming.”

“Sorry, I can’t hear bitch sometimes, Vriska.” He could hear Rose snort from across the room, and he noticed Dave’s eyebrows rise.

“Anyway, like I was saying,” Vriska put her hands on her hips, turning her attention to everyone. “There’s this room with the kitchen, a bathroom, and three bedrooms. Since there are six people living here, we can split up the rooms with two in each room. Dave and Karkat, you’re the only two boys living here so you’re obligated to sleep together.”

“Wait, I seriously have to sleep in the same room as Strider? What about Gamzee, doesn’t he still live around here?” Karkat crossed his arms, but looks up at the blonde beside him. “I mean, I don’t mind sharing the room but we’ve never talked. Once.”

“Oh Karkat, Gamzee is off being a stoner in some closet.” She waves off his question with her hand, continuing with her instructions. “Terezi and I are best friends, so we share a room. Rose and Kanaya are best friends, so they share a room. That just leaves Strider and Vantas to share a room together.”

“I’m cool with it. I’m sure Karkat loves to cuddle, right?” Dave smirked down at the boy, and he felt flustered. No way he could share a room with this guy. All day and all night, it’s going to be rapping, jokes, and who knows what he’ll do if he brings home some chick. He punched the boy’s arm, gaining an even bigger smirk from Vriska.

“See, you two are basically best friends already. Now, there’s one thing left for us to decide,” Vriska sat back on the couch, looking up at all of her new roommates. “What movie are we all going to watch together?”

 

 


	2. Bonding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vriska wants everyone to get their roommates to know each other better, more specifically, Karkat and Dave.

She had the whole thing planned out. Literally. Vriska had decided to list and draw out every single thing she wanted us all to do as a group. To Dave, it was a little too organized. He barely knows her, only meeting her through John and other social gatherings. But then again, the only person living in this apartment he actually knew well was Rose and Terezi. With Terezi, it wasn’t exactly the best situation he was in.

He glanced down to Karkat, who was standing by his side with his arms crossed over his chest. It’s only been a few days and he was grumpy about everything. Rose hanging out with Kanaya too much, Vriska’s voice, Terezi hanging onto Vriska’s every word. Dave was a little surprised that he hadn’t complained much about his living arrangements, since the rooms were small and they both had to share such a small space. They both got along well, at least what Dave saw. Karkat would shout sometimes at Dave, but for the most part, he was a pretty cool guy.

“All right, here’s how it’s going to go,” Vriska began as Dave glanced back up. She had papers all across the small wooden table, with Terezi by her side with her head facing the table. Even if she could see, she probably would still be looking down. That’s all she would do sometimes.

“I know we’ve been together for a few days, but haven’t we been a little too distance with each other? Sure school is going to start soon, but we need to have some fun while it lasts!” Vriska’s hands moved with her speech, waving a little too wildly. “I think we should have a day, just with our roommates-“

“Okay, that’s complete bullshit and you know it,” Karkat cut her off, speaking for the first time since they all got together in the same room. “Rose and Kanaya already know each other well, and Terezi practically follows you around like a lost puppy. Why can’t I spend the day with someone like Kanaya?”

Vriska shakes her head, amused. “Obviously because you don’t want to hang out with Dave. You’ve barely said anything to each other, and you need to just become friends already.”

Dave watched Karkat huff and grumble to himself. He really didn’t have any objections. He wouldn’t mind hanging around him and becoming closer to him. Whenever John would talk about his new friend, he would find a small feeling of jealously of his best friend finding a new best friend, but he would tuck it back down. When Terezi would talk about her feelings with Karkat after he could have sworn she was just flirting with the cool kid, Dave would hide his feelings deep down like he needed to. Even when he would hear about the boy from his old crush Jade, he would have to hide it all from everyone.

Before either of the two boys could argue, Vriska led the other girls out the door in a single file line. If it weren’t for the small space that made them go out that way, Dave almost thought they did it on purpose because of Vriska. He sighed as he leaned against the end of the table, looking over at Karkat.

“We don’t really have a choice now,” Dave said. “We might as well hang out and get to know each other better.”

“You say that like they put us up to go on a date.” Karkat paused, and then threw his hands up in the air. “Is this a fucking date because I might as well just go hide in my- Our room. God, _our_ room.”

“Karkat, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t supposed to be something torturous that Vriska put us up to.” Dave could already tell what this was. It could be a lot of things, especially if all of the girls had this idea. Vriska could have done this for us all to really get along, or she wanted time with make up with Terezi. But by what Dave could tell, it was to make Karkat get the fuck out of their room. From what he was told by Terezi, Karkat stayed in his house practically the whole summer. Dave couldn’t say any better about himself; with his older brother already at college and most of the people he was close to had moved away for college, it’s not like he had anything else to do. Some days he would call Jade and she would talk about how she missed her older brother too. Then he would call John and that’s all he had left to do. Just keep calling people until Terezi finally came over to his house and chill with him.

They both didn’t have anyone, and Dave guessed that it’s why they were left together. _If you didn’t have anyone else really, then why not be with someone just like you?_ , he thought. He shrugged and nodded towards the couch before heading over to sit in a seat. He heard Karkat grumble as he sat down in the seat next to him. The couch wasn’t exactly the biggest thing in the world, but Vriska was already talking about going to a furniture store just to buy stuff that we would all like.

They both sat there in silence, until Dave decided to break it. “Why weren’t you around over the summer?”

 “Maybe I didn’t want to be near anyone,” Karkat mumbled, arms crossed again. He sure does cross his arms a lot, like he was trying to hide from Dave. But he already guessed that he wanted to.

 “I already know what happened with Terezi and Vriska, but is it because of that? It seems like it wasn’t a big deal.”

 “It was a big deal, Strider! At least it _was_ a big deal then.” Karkat looked to the side, shaking his head. “I thought that was the end of it all. The end of her friendship with stupid Vriska and then she could finally get away from all of our troubled friends. But she avoided all of us, then became friends with her in a second.”

 As much as Dave did see Terezi during the summer, there was a long time where she just avoided everyone. She would act suspicious when he would call her, or just completely hit ignore. Then all of a sudden, she was always with Vriska. She would still seem upset about something, but at least with Vriska, she looked like she felt safe. Like she wasn’t safe before.

 “I’m not going to intrude or anything, because I don’t want to ramble about how I feel about her or anything but I also don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable or make you talk. I don’t even really know much about you two, or even anything about you, but..”

 “You’re already rambling.”

 “Right, true sorry. But do you get what I’m trying to say.”

 "No.”

 Dave huffed, making the other boy turn to him. It was the first time that day that he actually tried to look at the cool kid, probably because the huff sounded like his own. “Look, I’m here if you need someone, anyone. It’s not like I can talk to Terezi about certain stuff, and we don’t have that many people left here,” Dave continued. Karkat nodded, and looked straight ahead at the small TV that Dave had brought from his house.

 “Hey, have you seen _Good Luck Chuck?”_ Dave asked, already getting up to head to their room.

 “What the fuck is that?”

 "You have to be kidding me!” Dave shouted from his room, rummaging through a box of DVDs. “It’s literally the best movie ever. The best. We’re watching it right now.”

 Karkat frowned at him as Dave came back into the living room and set up the movie. Dave had already seen the movie god knows how many times with his family, and it wouldn’t be the first time he saw it with another guy when the movie has a bunch of sex in it. He wanted to see what Karkat’s reaction would be, either total disgust or just embarrassment. He hoped the latter.

 “Are you sure this will be a good movie?”

 "The _best_.” Dave sat back down next to Karkat, a little too close than he thought. They both didn’t move though, and watched the movie. And watched the same movie over and over again until the girls came back to the apartment.


	3. Toy Crabs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Roxy have some fun with their friends' new apartment.

“You know, I thought that maybe their apartment would be bigger for, uh… Six people to live in.”

John stood in front of his friends’ new apartment, looking up at what was in front of him, which wasn’t much. He could tell from the outside that it was a one story apartment, but he still wasn’t too sure how big the inside of the apartment might be and how everyone actually fits in a small space. He looked over to his friend Roxy, who was standing beside him and doing the same action. The two of them had already planned on visiting their group of high school friends, especially after hearing about the recent decision to all move in together. John always thought it would be Rose, Dave, Jade, and him who would move in together; but the small group of four had grown and he guessed it was for the better. After hearing about this apartment business from Vriska and an extremely pushy demand from her, John decided he should visit everyone before school started. 

“Maybe they all sleep in the living room and have slumber parties every night,” Roxy chimed in, heading to the door of the apartment. She knocked on the door a few times, and repeated every couple of seconds until it became continuous. After a whole minute she finally stopped, facing John and leaning against the door with a pout. 

“How are they not here? They knew we were coming.” He stepped forward to take a chance on the door, with Roxy moving out of the way to let him. John turned to knob, and to his surprise, the door wasn’t locked. “Do you think they’re tricking us?”

“I dunno, but we’re gonna find out,” she grinned at the boy before heading inside of the apartment, leaving John outside alone. He hesitated before stepping closer, staying in the doorframe. Within a minute or two, Roxy came back into view, looking a little tired. “No one’s here! Trust me, I even checked under the beds.”

He looked around inside a little cautiously before entering, looking stumped. Why would they all be gone if they knew we would be visiting today, John thought. “Do you think we got the date wrong?”

Roxy shrugged in response and started to check out the apartment. He watched her a little awkwardly, not wanting to disturb the place considering they already broke in. He thought about calling someone like Vriska or maybe Dave, but maybe this was apart of Vriska’s plan. According to her roommates, she had been doing that a lot lately, as if she wants everyone to pair up and become super close. Was this apart of some plan for him to be close with Roxy? It would make sense, but Vriska couldn’t have known that he would bring Roxy along with him, or even anyone. He could have visited by himself, or with Jade or really anyone. But then again, he could be closer with anyone—

Roxy interrupted his thoughts by holding up a piece of paper, waving it around a bit. “This looks like it’s for you.”

He took the paper and read it to himself: We’ll be back soon, we all needed to go deal with something for school. Make yourself at home, Vriska.

“She says to wait for them to come back.”

“Welllll, did she say when they were coming back?”

John looked back down at the note, shaking his head. “It only says that they all had to head out for a bit. Should we just sit and wait for them?”

Roxy tapped her chin a few times, grinning at the boy. She walked in a circle as she looked around the room again, still quiet but smiling. “I have an idea. We can leave them a surprise for when they all come back!”

“What are we supposed to do…?” He looked her puzzled, but then had an epiphany. “Oh, I know what you mean.”

 

Roxy pushed John down behind the couch, trying her best to suppress her giggling. “Come on, you have to hide better! They’ll see us!”

He wasn’t trying to hard to hide his laugh, and he would constantly peek over the couch to check if his friends were coming through the door. He heard a click from the door, and instantly pulled Roxy back behind the couch. The two of them stared at each other as they waited for the surprise to happen. John heard a loud thunk, followed by the footsteps of his friends. He saw Roxy give him a wink, and the two jumped up from behind the couch.

“Surprise!” 

John and Roxy noticed the different expressions on the group’s faces, most of them being happiness and pure confusion; Vriska being the most confused.

“John, I didn’t want you to fill our entire house with /toy crabs,” she stated, with the most deadpan expression. With her statement, Rose, Kanaya, and Terezi started to smirk and laugh quietly at the rooms over abundance of toy crabs. John had noticed Dave leaning against the wall with the smallest smirk and his thumbs pointed up, until Karkat entered the apartment. He stood in front of the mess, shock apparent on his face. 

“Why the /fuck/ does it always have to be crabs?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it's been about a year since i updated this fanfic oh dang. its pretty short, mostly because i've been in a really big johnroxy mood. i mostly talked about why i didn't update this in one of my other fanfics, band kids, but the main gist of it was that i felt really bad that the characters felt so out of character, since i haven't been active in the fandom. because of the comic ending, i feel really inspired to continue these stories, and if they're out of character for now, i already know. if the writing isn't the best yet, i know and i'm hoping to get back in the swing of writing fanfiction. 
> 
> thank you for reading my stories, and if you have any ideas for what the kids should do then i'd love to hear it! or if you have any other suggestions, those are great too. i'll try to update again soon, but for now thanks again!! :0


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